Systems and methods for allowing a user to access blocked media

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided herein for enabling a user to access a blocked media asset. These systems and methods allow a user to request that a parent, or another user, who can approve access to the blocked media asset approve access to the blocked media asset for viewing. The request may be transmitted as a notification to a mobile phone or another suitable device, such that the parent the other user can approve the request, even though they may be remote from the requesting user. Both the requesting user and the user whose approval is required to unblock the media asset (i.e., the approver), are identified by the system based on an identifier associated with each user. This informs the approver which user submitted the request. Additionally, this also adds a layer of security, since the approver must enter an identifier to authenticate their identity to the system before being able to unblock the program for the requesting user.

BACKGROUND

Given the plethora of content available to modern television viewers,parental control systems have become near ubiquitous in electronicprogram guides (EPGs), which allow users to filter content for viewing.For example, parental control systems give parents the ability to decidewhat their children can watch when they are not around. Typically, aparental control system will have an access code that can be input toblock and unblock content. A child attempting to access a blockedprogram and unaware of the access code will not be able to view theprogram. However, the rigidity of content ratings may result in blockingsome programs that a parent may find acceptable for their child towatch. For example, parents might not agree with the ratings of someprograms. In this instance, if the parent was not home to input theaccess code, the child may not be able to watch the program.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are provided herein for enabling a user to access ablocked media asset. These systems and methods allow a user to requestthat a parent, or another user who can approve access to the blockedmedia asset, approve access to the blocked media asset for viewing. Therequest may be transmitted as a notification to a mobile phone oranother suitable device such that the parent or the other user canapprove the request, even though they may be remote from the requestinguser. Both the requesting user and the user whose approval is requiredto unblock the media asset (i.e., the approver), may be identified bythe system based on an identifier associated with each user. Thisinforms the approver which user submitted the request. Additionally,this also adds a layer of security, since the approver must enter anidentifier to authenticate their identity to the system before beingable to unblock the program for the requesting user.

In some aspects, a media guidance application receives, from a firstuser equipment device, a first identifier associated with a first user.For example, the media guidance application receives a first user inputof an identifier. In some embodiments, the identifier comprises anyfinite string of characters such as numbers and letters. For example, anidentifier could be “1234,” “Joe123,” or any other suitable identifier.In some embodiments, the identifier may be biometric data, such as aretinal scan or fingerprint. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication stores the first identifier in memory associated with thefirst user device, such that the first user device automaticallydetermines the first user without any input from the first user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application compares thereceived first identifier to a plurality of identifiers stored in anindex data structure of user profiles. The media guidance applicationmay compare the received identifier with a plurality of identifiersstored in an index data structure. The media guidance application mayassociate a pointer to a user profile with each identifier in the indexdata structure. For example, the media guidance application may comparethe input identifier, “Joe123,” with identifiers stored in an index datastructure. Upon comparing the received first identifier to a pluralityof identifiers stored in an index data structure, the media guidanceapplication determines if the first identifier matches an identifierstored in the index data structure of user profiles. For example, if themedia guidance application determines that every character in thereceived identifier matches every character in a stored identifier, themedia guidance application may return a boolean result that the twoidentifiers match to “True.”

The media guidance application receives a request to allow the firstuser to access a media asset that is blocked for the first user. Forexample, the media guidance application receives a request from thefirst user to view a media asset that fulfills a preset blockingcriterion and is blocked for viewing by the first user. For example, themedia guidance application receives a request from the first user toobtain permission to view the media asset. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application stores an indication that programs with arating of “TV-MA” may be blocked for the first user. The media guidanceapplication then blocks programs with a rating of “TV-MA” or higher frombeing viewed by the first user. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may generate a notification containing the requestautomatically when the first user selects media that is blocked.

The media guidance application determines, in a first profile associatedwith the first user, a second user who has authority to approve accessto the media asset for the first user. For example, upon receiving thefirst user selection of the blocked media asset, the media guidanceapplication queries the first profile associated with the first user todetermine if there are any users with the authority to approve access toblocked media for the first user. For instance, the media guidanceapplication may determine a user account corresponding to the mother ofa child is designated as an account with authority to approve blockedmedia for the child. If the media guidance application does notdetermine a second user with authority to allow access to blocked mediafor the first user, the media guidance application may display anotification to the first user that the request has failed and that themedia asset remains blocked.

In some embodiments, the first profile associated with the first userincludes a data structure storing an age of the first user. For example,the media guidance application may store that the user “John” is 14years old. Alternatively or additionally, the first profile associatedwith the first user includes a data structure storing a flag indicatingwhether the first user has authority to approve access to the mediaasset. For example, the media guidance application may store a flag thatthe user “John” does not have authority to approve access to the mediaasset he is trying to access. Alternatively or additionally, the firstprofile associated with the first user includes a data structure storinga social media account associated with the first user. For example, themedia guidance application may store that the user “John” has a socialmedia account with handle “JohnC13579.” Alternatively or additionally,the first profile associated with the first user includes a datastructure storing a phone number associated with the first user. Forexample, the media guidance application may store that the user “John”has a mobile telephone with the phone number, “123-456-1000.”Alternatively or additionally, the first profile associated with thefirst user includes a data structure storing an email address associatedwith the first user. For example, the media guidance application maystore that the user “John” has an email account “JohnC@mail.usa.”Alternatively or additionally, the first profile associated with thefirst user includes a data structure storing a list of viewingpreferences of the first user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may store that the user “John” enjoys watching movies of the“horror” genre. Alternatively or additionally, the first profileassociated with the first user includes a data structure storing a listof user profiles that have approver rights for said first user profile.For example, the media guidance application may store that users “Mom”and “Dad,” which may be identified by identifiers of their profiles,have the authority to approve access to blocked media assets for user“John.”

In some embodiments, the media guidance application determines, from asecond profile associated with the second user, whether a second userequipment device is associated with the second user. Upon determiningthere is a second user with the authority to approve access, the mediaguidance application accesses the second profile associated with thesecond user. The media guidance application then queries the secondprofile for user equipment devices associated with the second user wherethe second user may receive the notification containing the request fromthe first user. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the user “Mom” has authority to approve access to themedia asset for the first user. The media guidance application may thenaccess a profile associated with “Mom” and query a data structure storedin the profile for user equipment associated with “Mom,” such as amobile telephone.

In some embodiments, if the media guidance application determines thereis no user equipment device associated with the second user where thesecond user can receive the notification, the media guidance applicationmay query the first profile associated with the first user for a thirduser with authority to approve access to the blocked media for the firstuser. For example, after the media guidance application queries a datastructure in a profile associated with “Mom” for user equipment, if nouser equipment is found, the media guidance application may attempt todetermine if there are any other users that can approve access to themedia asset for the first user, using the same or similar process asdescribed above.

Alternatively or additionally, if the media guidance applicationdetermines that the second user has not responded for a threshold amountof time, the media guidance application may query the first profileassociated with the first user for a third user with authority toapprove access to the blocked media for the first user. For example, ifthe media guidance application transmits a notification to a user devicestored in a profile corresponding to “Mom,” but does not receive aresponse for a certain period of time (e.g. five minutes), the mediaguidance application may determine another user, as described above,that can allow access to the media asset and transmit the notificationto a user equipment device stored in their profile (e.g. a userequipment device stored as a variable in the profile “Dad123”).

The media guidance application transmits a notification to the seconduser on a second user equipment device associated with the second userthat the first user has requested access to the blocked media asset inresponse to determining a second user equipment device is associatedwith the second user. The media guidance application may transmit anotification containing an option for the second user to unblock themedia asset to the second user equipment. For example, the mediaguidance application may transmit the notification to the mother'smobile phone.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application generates contentthat helps to inform the second user's decision to unlock the mediaasset or deny the request from the first user. For example, the mediaguidance application presents as a portion of the notification a genreof the media asset that was blocked, such as “drama.” Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application presents as a portion ofthe notification a rating of the media asset, such as “TV-MA.”Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application presentsas a portion of the notification a link to a webpage associated with themedia asset, such as the homepage of a movie. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application presents as a portion ofthe notification a preview associated with the media.

Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application presentsas a portion of the notification a personalized communication from thefirst user, such as any combination of text, images, videos, and audio,from the first user attempting to convince the second user to unblockthe media. Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance applicationpresents as a portion of the notification an indication why the mediawas blocked, such as the rating exceeds the current blocking criterion.For instance, the media guidance application may determine that thefirst user cannot watch “TV-MA” programs and has blocked the media assetbecause it is rated “TV-MA” and include this information in thenotification to the second user.

The media guidance application receives, from one of the second userequipment device or another user equipment device associated with thesecond user, a second identifier associated with the second user. Forexample, the media guidance application receives a second user input ofa second identifier. The second identifier may comprise any finitestring of characters such as numbers and letters. For example, a secondidentifier could be “1234” or “Mom123.” In some embodiments, the mediaguidance application may store the identifier in memory associated withthe second user device, such that the second user device automaticallydetermines the second user without any input from the second user.

The media guidance application determines the second identifier matchesan identifier associated with the second profile. The media guidanceapplication compares the identifier received with identifiers stored inmemory and associated with a plurality of profiles. Upon determining amatch between the second identifier and an identifier associated withthe second profile, the media guidance application may apply settings,permissions, and other data stored in the second profile to the seconduser equipment. For example, upon matching the inputted identifier to anidentifier corresponding to a profile for “Mom” in memory, the mediaguidance application may allow the user “Mom” to unblock the programthat the first user has requested to access.

The media guidance application generates for display an option tounblock the media asset for access by the first user on the first userequipment device in response to determining the second identifiermatches an identifier associated with the second profile. For example,the media guidance application presents a selectable icon or otherselectable feature to the user “Mom” indicating that they can unblockthe media asset that the first user desires to access in response todetermining the second identifier (e.g., “Mom123”) matches an identifierassociated with the second profile.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application generates fordisplay with the option to unblock the media asset an option tocommunicate with the first user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may allow the second user to transmit a message asking thefirst user if they have taken out the trash. The media guidanceapplication may allow two-way communication. For example, the first usermay respond that they have taken out the trash and to please unblock themedia asset.

Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application generatesfor display with the option to unblock the media asset an option toapprove the media asset for access during a predetermined period oftime. For example, the media guidance application generates for displayan option to unblock the media asset over a period of time specified bythe second user (e.g., 5 pm-8 pm). Upon selection by the second user,the media guidance application will unblock the program only during theperiod of time specified by the second user. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application generates for display withthe option to unblock the media asset an option to unblock a differentversion of the media. For example, the media guidance applicationgenerates for display a list of alternative versions of the media assetthat may be more appropriate for the first user (e.g., “withoutobscenity” or a “director's cut”). Upon selection by the second user ofan alternative version, the media guidance application will unblock thatversion of the media asset for access by the first user.

The media guidance application unblocks the blocked media asset foraccess by the first user on the first user equipment device uponreceiving a selection of the option to unblock the media asset. Forexample, after the second user has approved access by the first user ofthe media asset, the media guidance application unblocks the media assetand allows the first user to access the media asset. Additionally, asdescribed in some embodiments, if the second user has stipulated anyconditions attached to accessing the media asset, the media guidanceapplication may implement those as well. For example, if the mediaguidance application received an indication from the second user thatthe first user should not view a television program after 8 pm, themedia guidance application will unblock the program only until 8 pm.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application receives aconditional allowance from the second user for the first user to accessa media asset if an allowance criterion is met by the first user. Forexample, before the first user attempts to access the media asset, themedia guidance application receives input from the second user that themedia asset can be unblocked if the first user has fulfilled theallowance criterion. The media guidance application stores the allowancecriterion in memory in the first profile associated with the first user.Upon selection of the blocked media asset by the first user, the mediaguidance application determines the allowance criterion must be metbefore unblocking the media asset. The media guidance application thengenerates for display a notification to the first user with theallowance criterion, which may require user input in order to befulfilled. The allowance criterion may be a message displayed by themedia guidance application to the first user asking him or her toconfirm that he or she has done a specific task by pressing the “OK”button. As another example, the allowance criterion may require thefirst user to transmit a photograph or video to the second userconfirming they have completed a specific task. Upon successfullymeeting the allowance criterion, the media guidance application unblocksthe media asset for access by the first user.

It should be noted the systems and/or methods described above may beapplied to, or used in accordance with, other systems, methods and/orapparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative display of a parental control module of amedia guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure:

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative display of a parental control moduleof a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure:

FIG. 5 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure:

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative example of a display screen for use inaccessing media content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 8 shows another illustrative example of a display screen usedaccess media content in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure:

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an illustrative user equipment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure:

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure:

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for allowing a user toaccess a blocked media asset in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a set of illustrative steps for determining,in a first profile associated with the first user, a second user who hasauthority to approve access to the media asset for the first user inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure:

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for determining, from asecond profile associated with the second user, whether a second userequipment device is associated with the second user in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for determining the secondidentifier matches an identifier associated with the second profile inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are provided herein for enabling a user to access ablocked media asset. These systems and methods allow a user to requestthat a parent, or another user, who can approve access to the blockedmedia asset approve access to the blocked media asset for viewing. Therequest may be transmitted as a notification to a mobile phone oranother suitable device, such that the parent the other user can approvethe request, even though they may be remote from the requesting user.Both the requesting user and the user whose approval is required tounblock the media asset (i.e., the approver), are identified by thesystem based on an identifier associated with each user. This informsthe approver which user submitted the request. Additionally, this alsoadds a layer of security, since the approver must enter an identifier toauthenticate their identity to the system before being able to unblockthe program for the requesting user.

As referred to herein, a “media guidance application.” or an“interactive media guidance application” or, sometimes, a “mediaguidance application” or a “guidance application” is an application thatallows a user to consume, and/or navigate to, media assets. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may be provided as an onlineapplication (i.e., provided on a website), or as a stand-aloneapplication on a server, user device, etc. In some embodiments, controlcircuitry installed on various devices and platforms may execute themedia guidance application, as described in more detail below. In someembodiments, the media guidance application and/or any instructions forperforming any of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded oncomputer readable media. Computer readable media includes any mediacapable of storing data. The computer readable media may be transitory,including, but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagneticsignals, or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to,volatile and nonvolatile computer memory or storage devices such as ahard disk, floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media card, register memory,processor caches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative display of a parental control module of amedia guidance application in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. For example, display 100 may represent an interface withparental control module 102 of a media guidance application used by auser to transmit a message to another user that they wish to access amedia asset that is currently blocked. Display 100 may appear on one ormore user devices (e.g. any of the devices listed in FIGS. 9-10 below).Moreover, the media guidance application may use one or more of theprocesses described in FIGS. 11-14 below to generate display 100 or anyof the features described therein.

FIG. 1 includes display 100. Display 100 may appear on a display device(e.g., user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and/or 1006 (FIG. 10) below).Furthermore, control circuitry 904, as described below in relation toFIG. 9, may be used to generate a display 100. Display 100 includesparental control module 102 of the media guidance application indicatingthat a user has selected media asset 104, “Game of Thrones,” forviewing. For example, the media guidance application receives a requestby the first user to view media asset 104. The media guidanceapplication determines the first user by storing a first identifiercorresponding to the first user in memory (e.g., storage as described inFIG. 9 below) associated with the first user device, such that the firstuser device automatically determines the first user without any inputfrom the first user. For example, the media guidance application maystore that the device, “John's television,” should always be associatedwith a user account for user John, which may be identified by anidentifier corresponding to a profile name, “John123.”

The media guidance application may determine that media asset 104fulfills a blocking criterion for the first user. Continuing from theprevious example, the media guidance application may store an indicationthat media assets with a rating of “TV-MA” and higher are blocked for“John123.” The media guidance application may store the indication thatcategories of media assets are blocked for John in a data structurestored in memory, which may be local or remote on another device orserver, as described further by FIGS. 9-10 below. For example, the datastructure may be structured as an object of a class, as is typical ofobject-oriented programming languages such as C++. In this case, theclass may be a “user profile” class, which creates a general template ofvariables and constants that are stored in memory. The variables andconstants may additionally include:

-   -   an age of the user;    -   a flag indicating whether the user has authority to approve        access to the media asset;    -   a social media account associated with the user;    -   a phone number associated with the user;    -   an email address associated with the user;    -   a list of viewing preferences of the user; and/or    -   a list of user profiles that have approver rights for the        current user profile.

Each individual profile, such as the profile for “John123,” is an objectof the user profile class and the variables and constants described areinitialized with values corresponding to the specific user. For example,a Boolean for whether the user can access media assets with a rating of“TV-MA” may be set to “False” for user profile “John123.” The mediaguidance application then blocks media assets with a rating of “TV-MA,”such as media asset 104, from being viewed by John, based on the storedinformation in the user profile corresponding to John.

Upon determining the first user and whether the selected media assetshould be blocked, display 100 includes message 106 informing the userwhich identifier, corresponding to a profile, was automatically receivedby the media guidance application. For example, the media guidanceapplication may generate message 106 that the user currently identifiedbased on the received identifier is John. In alternate embodiments,message 106 may be selectable and upon selection allow a user tomanually input, using a user input interface as described in FIG. 9, adifferent identifier, similar to that described in FIGS. 3-4. Forexample, John's mother may be using his device and want to access amedia asset that is blocked for John. The media guidance application mayreceive an alternate identifier from John's mother which corresponds toa different stored profile where access is allowed for a particularmedia asset that was not allowed for John.

Display 100 additionally includes an indication 108 that the media assetwas blocked. Continuing with the previous example, the media guidanceapplication blocks media assets with a rating of “TV-MA,” such as mediaasset 104, from being viewed by John, based on the stored information inthe user profile corresponding to John. The media guidance applicationthen generates for display on display 100 indication 108.

Display 100 additionally includes a notification 110 that the mediaguidance application is transmitting a request to allow access to mediaasset 104 to a user with authority to approve access, user 112. Forexample, the media guidance application may generate for display ondisplay 100 that the request has been sent to user 112, “Mom.” The mediaguidance application may determine a user that has authority to approveaccess to media assets for the first user based on information stored inthe profile for the first user. For example, in the profile for“John123,” the media guidance application may store identifiersassociated with profiles which have authority to approve access to mediaassets for “John123,” such as the identifier of the profile for userMom, which could be, “Mom1980.”

In some embodiments, the media guidance application determines, from asecond profile associated with the second user, whether a second userequipment device is associated with the second user. For example, themedia guidance application may query the data structure stored in memorycorresponding to the user profile for Mom for a user device where Momcan receive the request. As described above, the user equipment devicemay be stored in a variable that is located in the object correspondingto the profile for “Mom1980.” The media guidance application mayretrieve the data stored in this variable, which contains informationallowing the media guidance application to contact the user equipmentdevice. For example, if the device is a mobile phone, the media guidanceapplication may retrieve the phone number and transmit the request via atext message. If the media guidance application determines there is nota user equipment device associated with the second user where the seconduser can receive the request, the media guidance application may querythe data structure associated with the first profile again for anotheruser with authority to approve access to the blocked media for the firstuser. For example, if no user equipment device information was stored inprofile “Mom1980.” the media guidance application may determine fromquerying the data structure storing user profiles with authority toapprove access associated with the profile for user “John123” that“Dad1979” has authority to approve access as well.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the media guidance applicationtransmits a notification to the second user on a second user equipmentdevice associated with the second user that the first user has requestedaccess to the media asset that is blocked in response to determining asecond user equipment device is associated with the second user. Forexample, upon determining a second user equipment device is associatedwith the second user, the media guidance application may transmit anotification that the first user has requested access to the media assetcontaining an option for the second user to unblock the media asset tothe second user equipment. For instance, the media guidance applicationmay determine that the user Mom has a mobile phone as a result of thequerying and may transmit the request to the mobile phone.

Alternatively or additionally, if the media guidance applicationdetermines that the second user has not responded for a threshold amountof time, the media guidance application may query the data structurestored in memory containing the first profile associated with the firstuser for a third user with authority to approve access to the blockedmedia for the first user. For example, if the media guidance applicationtransmits a notification to a user device stored in a profilecorresponding to Mom, but does not receive a response for a thresholdperiod of time (e.g., five minutes), the media guidance application maydetermine another user that can allow access to the media asset andtransmit the request to a user equipment device stored in their profile(e.g., a user equipment device stored as a variable in the profile“Dad1979,” as described above).

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative display of a parental control moduleof a media guidance application in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure. For example, display 200 may represent an interface withparental control module 202 of a media guidance application used by auser to approve access to the blocked media asset. Display 200 mayappear on one or more user devices (e.g., any of the devices listed inFIGS. 9-10 below). Moreover, the media guidance application may use oneor more of the processes described in FIGS. 11-14 below to generatedisplay 200 or any of the features described therein.

FIG. 2 includes display 200. Display 200 may appear on a display device(e.g., user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and/or 1006 (FIG. 10) below).Furthermore, control circuitry 904, as described below in relation toFIG. 9, may be used to generate a display 200. Display 200 includesparental control module 202 of the media guidance application indicatingthat a user is requesting media asset 206, be unblocked. For example,the media guidance application may present the request from the firstuser, John, to access media asset 206, “Game of Thrones.”

In some aspects, the media guidance application determines the seconduser by storing a second identifier corresponding to the second user inmemory associated with the second user device, such that the second userdevice automatically determines the second user without any input fromthe first user. For example, the media guidance application may storethat the device, “Mom's phone,” should always be associated with a useraccount for user Mom which may be identified by an identifiercorresponding to a profile name, “Mom1980.” Display 200 includes message204 informing the user which identifier, corresponding to a profile, wasautomatically received by the media guidance application. For example,the media guidance application may generate message 204 that the usercurrently identified based on the received identifier is Mom. Inalternate embodiments, message 204 may be selectable and upon selectionallow a user to manually input, using a user input interface asdescribed in FIG. 9, a different identifier, similar to that describedin FIGS. 3-4. For example, user Dad may be using user Mom's device andmay want to switch profiles. The media guidance application may receivean alternate identifier from Dad which corresponds to a different storedprofile.

If the media guidance application determines the second identifierreceived does not correspond to a profile stored in an index datastructure of user profiles, the media guidance application may query thefirst profile associated with the first user again for another user withauthority to approve access to the blocked media for the first user. Forexample, after the media guidance application determines the identifierdoes not correspond to a profile, the media guidance application mayquery the data structure containing users with authority to approveaccess associated with the first profile. The media guidance applicationmay attempt to determine if there are any other users that can approveaccess to the media asset for the first user, using the same process asdescribed above in FIG. 1.

The media guidance application may generate for display an option tounblock the media asset for access by the first user on the first userequipment device in response to determining the second identifiermatches an identifier associated with the second profile. For example,upon determining that the user of the device is Mom, based on theidentifier “Mom1980” pointing to the profile associated with Mom, themedia guidance application generates for display on display 200 aselectable icon 208 or other selectable feature to the second userindicating that they can unblock the media asset 206 that the first userwishes to access. The media guidance application may additionallygenerate for display on display 200) an option to deny the request 210.In some embodiments, the option to deny the request 210 may be an optionto close the notification, where closing the notification acts as animplicit denial of the request.

The media guidance application may unblock the blocked media asset foraccess by the first user on the first user equipment upon receiving aselection of the option to unblock 208 the media asset 206. For example,after user Mom has approved access by user John of the media asset, themedia guidance application may unblock the media asset and allow John toaccess the media asset. Conversely, upon selection of option to deny 210by user Mom, media asset 206 will remain blocked and inaccessible touser John.

FIG. 3 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. For example, display 300 may represent aninterface with parental control module 302 of a media guidanceapplication used by a user to approve access to the blocked media asset.Display 300 may appear on one or more user devices (e.g., any of thedevices listed in FIGS. 9-10 below). Moreover, the media guidanceapplication may use one or more of the processes described in FIGS.11-14 below to generate display 300 or any of the features describedtherein.

FIG. 3 includes display 300. Display 300 may appear on a display device(e.g., user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and/or 1006 (FIG. 10) below).Furthermore, control circuitry 904, as described below in relation toFIG. 9, may be used to generate a display 300. Display 300 includesparental control module 302 of the media guidance application promptingthe user to input an identifier 304. The media guidance application mayreceive the user input of the identifier using a user input interface asdescribed in FIG. 9. The identifier may comprise any finite string ofcharacters such as numbers and letters. For example, an identifier couldbe, “1234” or “Joe123.” In some embodiments, the identifier may bebiometric data, such as a retinal scan or fingerprint.

The media guidance application matches the identifier input by the userto a profile stored in memory, as described in detail in FIG. 1. Forexample, upon receiving the user input “John123,” the media guidanceapplication may determine that the identifier “John123” matches anidentifier of a profile stored in memory corresponding to user John.Display 300 includes message 310 informing the user which identifier,corresponding to a profile, was received by the media guidanceapplication. For example, the media guidance application may generatemessage 310 that the user currently identified, based on the receivedidentifier, is John.

The media guidance application generates for display on display 300 aselectable option to notify the approver 306. For example, uponselection by the user of selectable option 306, the media guidanceapplication determines a second user to transmit the request to, asdescribed above in FIG. 1. The media guidance application may generatefor display selectable option 308 to not notify the approver. Uponselection by the user using a user input interface, as described in FIG.9, of selectable option 308, the media asset will remain blocked and norequest will be transmitted to the user.

In some embodiments, the selectable option to request approval 306 mayfurther comprise an option to choose a specific user with authority toapprove access to the media asset to transmit the request to from aplurality of users with authority to approve access to the media asset.For example, John may know that his mother is unavailable and may wantthe media guidance application to instead transmit the request to hisfather who is also listed as a user with authority to approve access tothe media asset for John in John's profile stored in memory. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may choose the user withauthority to approve access to the media asset to transmit the requestto based on a flag indicating a specific user is a default user in theprofile associated with the first user. For example, in a profilecorresponding to John, John's mother may be indicated as the defaultuser to notify, in which case the media guidance application willtransmit the notification to John's mother first.

The transmission of the request to approve access by the media guidanceapplication is performed as described above in FIG. 1. Display 300additionally includes a notification 312 that the media guidanceapplication is transmitting a request to allow access to the media assetto a user with authority to approve access, user 312, as described abovein FIG. 1. For example, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay on display 100 that the request has been sent to user 312,“Mom.”

FIG. 4 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. For example, display 400 may represent aninterface with parental control module 402 used by a user to receive arequest to approve access to the blocked media asset. Display 400 mayappear on one or more user devices (e.g., any of the devices listed inFIGS. 9-10 below). Moreover, the media guidance application may use oneor more of the processes described in FIGS. 11-14 below to generatedisplay 400 or any of the features described therein.

FIG. 4 includes display 400. Display 400 may appear on a display device(e.g., user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and/or 1006 (FIG. 10) below).Furthermore, control circuitry 904, as described below in relation toFIG. 9, may be used to generate a display 400. Display 400 includesparental control module 402 of the media guidance application indicatingthat a user has requested to access media asset 404, “Game of Thrones.”For example, the media guidance application receives a notificationcontaining a request by the first user 310 to view media asset 404 andprompts the second user for identification 408 before allowing the userto choose whether or not to approve the request, in order to ensure theuser with authority to approve access to the media asset is the oneusing the user equipment device.

Display 400 includes parental control module 402 prompting the user toinput an identifier 408. The media guidance application may receive theuser input of the identifier using a user input interface as describedin FIG. 9. The identifier may comprise any finite string of characterssuch as numbers and letters. For example, an identifier could be, “1234”or “Joe123.”

The media guidance application matches the received identifier, input bythe user, to a profile stored in memory, as described in detail in FIGS.1-2. For example, upon the media guidance application receiving the userinput “Mom1980,” the media guidance application may determine that theidentifier “Mom1980” matches an identifier of a profile stored in memorycorresponding to user 410.

Display 400 includes message 410 informing the user which identifier,corresponding to a profile, was received by the media guidanceapplication. For example, the media guidance application generates amessage that user 410 currently identified, based on the receivedidentifier is Mom. The media guidance application generates for displayon display 400 the notification that the first user wishes to accessblocked media asset 412. For example, the media guidance applicationgenerates for display that user John would like to access, “Game ofThrones.” In some embodiments, the media guidance application maygenerate for display an option to unblock the media asset 414 for accessby the first user on the first user equipment device and an option todeny the request 416 and leave the media asset blocked. These optionsoperate in the same manner as options 208 and 210 described in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. For example, display 500 may represent aninterface with parental control module 502 of the media guidanceapplication used by a user to receive a request to approve access to theblocked media asset with additional information that may help the userdecide whether to approve the request. Display 500 may appear on one ormore user devices (e.g., any of the devices listed in FIGS. 9-10 below).Moreover, the media guidance application may use one or more of theprocesses described in FIGS. 11-14 below to generate display 500 or anyof the features described therein.

FIG. 5 includes display 500. Display 500 may appear on a display device(e.g., user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and/or 1006 (FIG. 10) below).Furthermore, control circuitry 904, as described below in relation toFIG. 9, may be used to generate a display 500. Display 500 includesparental control module 502 of the media guidance application indicatingthat a user has requested to access media asset 504. For example, themedia guidance application generates for display the notification 504from user John to access the media asset, “Game of Thrones.”

The media guidance application may retrieve data associated with theblocked media asset from a data structure associated with the blockedmedia asset stored at a media guidance data source via a communicationsnetwork as described in FIG. 10. For example, the data structure maycontain: a genre of the media, a rating of the media, and/or a link to awebpage associated with the media.

The media guidance application may generate for display on display 500as a portion of the notification a rating of the media asset 506, suchas “TV-MA.” Alternatively or additionally, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display on display 500 as a portion of thenotification a genre 508 of the media asset that was blocked, such as“drama.” Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance applicationmay generate for display on display 500 an indication 510 why the mediaasset was blocked. For example, the media guidance application maydetermine that the first user cannot watch “TV-MA” programs based ondata stored in the first user profile and has blocked the media assetbecause it is rated “TV-MA” and may include this information in thenotification to the second user. Alternatively or additionally, themedia guidance application may generate for display on display 500 as aportion of the notification a link to a webpage 512 associated with themedia asset, such as the official homepage for a movie or televisionshow. Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application maygenerate for display on display 500 as a portion of the notification apreview 514 associated with the media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve the preview 514 associated with themedia asset from a media content source via a communications network, asdescribed in FIG. 10.

Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application maygenerate for display on display 500 as a portion of the notification apersonalized communication from the first user 516, such as text 520and/or image 518 from the first user. For example, user John may try toconvince his mother to unlock the media asset by showing her a image ofhis recently cleaned room and explaining that because he cleaned hisroom he deserves access to the media asset. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may present a selectableoption to transmit a message 524 to the first user. Upon selection ofselectable option 524 by the second user using a user input interface asdescribed in FIG. 9, the media guidance application receives a messagefrom the second user, using a user input interface as described in FIG.9, to the first user requesting access of the media asset. The mediaguidance application then transmits the personalized communication tothe first user equipment device using a communications network, asdescribed in FIG. 10. For example. John's mother may transmit acommunication asking John if in addition to cleaning his room he alsotook out the trash.

The media guidance application may generate for display on display 500as a portion of the notification a selectable option 526 to allow accessto the media asset for a set amount of time. Upon selection ofselectable option 526, the media guidance application may receive a userselection of a period of time to allow the requesting user access to themedia. For example, the media guidance application may receive fromJohn's mother a selection of selectable option 526 to allow access tothe media asset for only two hours for John so that he goes to bedbefore it gets too late. Alternatively or additionally, the mediaguidance application may generate for display on display 500 as aportion of the notification a selectable option to allow access to themedia asset during a specific range of times 530 as opposed to two hoursstarting from the time the second user unblocks the media asset. Uponselection of selectable option 530, the media guidance application mayreceive a user selection of a start and end time to allow the requestinguser access to the media. For example, the media guidance applicationmay receive a selection of selectable option 530 from John's mother toallow access to the media asset between 6 pm and 8 pm for John so thathe goes to bed before it gets too late.

The media guidance application may store, in the first user profile, adata structure such as a structure in C++, that contains variablesreferring to the specific media asset the first user is authorized toaccess and any conditions attached to the first user's ability toaccess. The media guidance application will set variables in the datastructure based on the selections of conditions required by the seconduser for the first user to access the media asset. For example, upon themedia guidance application receiving selection of selectable option 530and receipt of a start and end time, the media guidance application mayset variables “start” and “end” to the times selected by the user withauthority to approve access. The media guidance application will thencheck to ensure that the condition is met before unblocking the mediaasset for access by the first user.

Alternatively or additionally, the media guidance application maygenerate for display on display 500 as a portion of the notification aselectable option to allow access to an alternate version 528 of themedia asset. Upon selection of selectable option 528, the media guidanceapplication may receive a user selection of a particular version of themedia asset that may be more appropriate for the requesting user toaccess. For example. John's mother may allow John to access a version ofthe media asset where obscenities and nudity are obscured, which themedia guidance application may access via a communications network froma media content source as described in FIG. 10.

The media guidance application may generate for display an option tounblock the media asset 522 for access by the first user on the firstuser equipment device and an option to deny the notification 532 andleave the media asset blocked. These options operate in the same manneras options 208 and 210 described in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 shows yet another illustrative display of a parental controlmodule of a media guidance application in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure. For example, display 600 may represent aninterface with parental control module 602 of a media guidanceapplication used by a user with authority to control access to mediaassets to set conditional approval conditions for future access byanother user. Display 600 may appear on one or more user devices (e.g.,any of the devices listed in FIGS. 9-10 below). Moreover, the mediaguidance application may use one or more of the processes described inFIGS. 11-14 below to generate display 600 or any of the featuresdescribed therein.

FIG. 6 includes display 600. Display 600 may appear on a display device(e.g., user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and/or 1006 (FIG. 10) below).Furthermore, control circuitry 904, as described below in relation toFIG. 9, may be used to generate a display 600. Display 600 includesparental control module 602 of the media guidance application indicatingthat user 604, “Mom,” has been identified based on an identifier, whichcould either be stored in memory, as described in FIGS. 1-2 or input bythe user, as described in FIGS. 3-4.

In some aspects of the disclosure, the media guidance application mayreceive a second user selection, using a user input interface asdescribed in FIG. 9, of first user 606 for whom they have authority toapprove access to media assets. For example, the media guidanceapplication may receive a selection by John's mother (user “Mom”) ofJohn. The media guidance application receives a selection of media asset608 from the second user, using a user input interface as described inFIG. 9. For example, the media guidance application may receive aselection from John's mother of the media asset. “Game of Thrones,” toattach conditional approval conditions to.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive a seconduser selection of a period of time 610 the first user is allowed toaccess the media asset. For example, the media guidance application mayreceive a user input from the second user of a start and end time duringthe day that the first user is allowed access to the media asset. Forinstance, the media guidance application may receive from John's mothera selection of the start time 6 pm and the end time 8 pm. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may receive a selection ofspecific days 612 for which the period of time 610 is applicable. Thespecific days could refer to, “all days,” “only Monday-Friday,” “aspecific date,” or “other.” For example, the media guidance applicationmay receive a selection by John's mother of “All M-F,” meaning that Johnis allowed to access the media asset on Monday through Friday during thetime period specific in 610.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive a seconduser input of reminder message 614. The reminder message may comprisetext, images, or other multimedia displayable to the first user. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive from John's mothertext asking John if he has cleaned his room and taken out the trash,which may then be displayed by the media guidance application when Johnaccesses the media asset. In some embodiments, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display on display 600 an option to requireconfirmation from first user 616. For example, if the media guidanceapplication receives a second user selection of “Yes,” the mediaguidance application will require acknowledgement by the user that theyhave received and understood reminder message 614.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay on display 600 an option to choose the form of the confirmation618 required by the first user. For example, if the media guidanceapplication receives a selection of “Yes” for the option to requireconfirmation 616, the media guidance application may receive anadditional selection of option to choose the form of the confirmation618. For example, the media guidance application may receive a seconduser selection requiring a “message,” a “photo.” or a “selection of OK”If the media guidance application receives a selection of “message,” itmay require the first user to input a text message, which is thentransmitted to the second user, before unblocking the media asset. Ifthe media guidance application receives a selection of “photo,” it mayrequire the first user to input a photo, which is then transmitted tothe second user, before unblocking the media asset. If the mediaguidance application receives a selection of “selection of OK,” themedia guidance application may require the first user to acknowledge thereminder by selecting a selectable option labeled “OK” before unblockingthe media asset.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay on display 600 an option to notify the second user when thefirst user attempts to access 620 the media asset. For example, uponreceiving a selection of “Yes” by the second user, the media guidanceapplication will transmit a notification to the second user when thefirst user attempts to access the media asset. The media guidanceapplication may transmit the notification that the first user isattempting to access the media asset regardless of whether the firstuser successfully accesses the media asset by fulfilling the approvalcriteria. The media guidance application may determine a user equipmentdevice associated with the second user by querying a data structure of astored profile associated with the second user, as described in FIGS.1-4.

The media guidance application may store, in the first user profile, adata structure such as a structure in C++, that contains variablesreferring to the specific media asset the first user is authorized toaccess and any conditions attached to the ability to access, asdescribed above in FIG. 5. The media guidance application may setvariables in the data structure based on the selections of conditionsrequired by the second user for the first user to access the mediaasset. For example, upon the media guidance application receiving aconditional approval condition for media asset 608, the media guidanceapplication may store the conditions in a data structure associated withmedia asset 608 in the first profile, as described above. For example,upon receiving a selection of selectable option 610 and receipt of astart and end time, the media guidance application may set variables“start” and “end” to the times selected by the user with authority toapprove access. The media guidance application may then check to ensurethat the condition is met before unblocking the media asset for accessby the first user.

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, chat sessions, social media,applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PCTV), a PC mediaserver, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationary telephone,a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a portable videoplayer, a portable music player, a portable gaming machine, a smartphone, or any other television equipment, computing equipment, orwireless device, and/or combination of the same. In some embodiments,the user equipment device may have a front facing screen and a rearfacing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angled screens. Insome embodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facingcamera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipment devices,users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 7-8 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 7-8 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 7-8 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 7 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 700arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 700 may include grid 702 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 704, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 706, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 702 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 708, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 710. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 710 may be provided inprogram information region 712. Region 712 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office. Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 702 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 714, recorded content listing 716, andInternet content listing 718. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 700 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings714, 716, and 718 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 702 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 702. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 720. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 720.)

Display 700 may also include video region 722, and options region 726.Video region 722 may allow the user to view and/or preview programs thatare currently available, will be available, or were available to theuser. The content of video region 722 may correspond to, or beindependent from, one of the listings displayed in grid 702. Griddisplays including a video region are sometimes referred to aspicture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalitiesare described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No.6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794,issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other mediaguidance application display screens of the embodiments describedherein.

Options region 726 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 726 may be part of display 700 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 726 may concern features related to program listings in grid 702or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 10. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 8. Video mosaic display 800 includes selectable options 802 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria In display 800, television listings option 804 isselected, thus providing listings 806, 808, 810, and 812 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 800 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 808 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 814 and text portion 816.Media portion 814 and/or text portion 816 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 814 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 800 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 806 islarger than listings 808, 810, and 812), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 9 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 900. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 10.User equipment device 900 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 902. I/O path 902 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 904, which includesprocessing circuitry 906 and storage 908. Control circuitry 904 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 902. I/O path 902 may connect control circuitry 904 (andspecifically processing circuitry 906) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 9 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 904 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 906. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 904 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 908). Specifically, control circuitry 904 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 904 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 904 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 904 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 10). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 908 thatis part of control circuitry 904. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 908 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 10, may be used to supplementstorage 908 or instead of storage 908.

Control circuitry 904 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 904 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 900. Circuitry 904 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 908 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 900, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 908.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 904 using user inputinterface 910. User input interface 910 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 912 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 900. For example, display 912 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 910may be integrated with or combined with display 912. Display 912 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 912 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 912 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 912.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry904. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 904.Speakers 914 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 900 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 912 may be played throughspeakers 914. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers914.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 900. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage908), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 904 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 908 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 904 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 910. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 910 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 900 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 900. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 904 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 904) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 900. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 900.Equipment device 900 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 910 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 900 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 910.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 900 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 904). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 904 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 904. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 904. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 900 of FIG. 9 can be implemented in system 1000 ofFIG. 10 as user television equipment 1002, user computer equipment 1004,wireless user communications device 1006, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. In some embodiments, the media guidance applicationmay be executed simultaneously by multiple user devices. Various networkconfigurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in moredetail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 9 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 1002, user computer equipment 1004, or awireless user communications device 1006. For example, user televisionequipment 1002 may, like some user computer equipment 1004, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 1004 may, like some television equipment 1002,include a tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 1004, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 1006.

In system 1000, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 10 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 1002, user computer equipment 1004, wireless usercommunications device 1006) may be referred to as a “second screendevice.” For example, a second screen device may supplement contentpresented on a first user equipment device. The content presented on thesecond screen device may be any suitable content that supplements thecontent presented on the first device. In some embodiments, the secondscreen device provides an interface for adjusting settings and displaypreferences of the first device. In some embodiments, the second screendevice is configured for interacting with other second screen devices orfor interacting with a social network. The second screen device can belocated in the same room as the first device, a different room from thefirst device but in the same house or building, or in a differentbuilding from the first device.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network1014. Namely, user television equipment 1002, user computer equipment1004, and wireless user communications device 1006 are coupled tocommunications network 1014 via communications paths 1008, 1010, and1012, respectively. Communications network 1014 may be one or morenetworks including the Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice ordata network (e.g., a 4G or LTE network), cable network, public switchedtelephone network, or other types of communications network orcombinations of communications networks. Paths 1008, 1010, and 1012 mayseparately or together include one or more communications paths, suchas, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a path thatsupports Internet communications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections(e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals), or any other suitablewired or wireless communications path or combination of such paths. Path1012 is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplaryembodiment shown in FIG. 10 it is a wireless path and paths 1008 and1010 are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths (althoughthese paths may be wireless paths, if desired). Communications with theuser equipment devices may be provided by one or more of thesecommunications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 10 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 1008, 1010, and 1012, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 1014.

System 1000 includes content source 1016 and media guidance data source1018 coupled to communications network 1014 via communication paths 1020and 1022, respectively. Paths 1020 and 1022 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 1008, 1010,and 1012. Communications with the content source 1016 and media guidancedata source 1018 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 10 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 1016 and media guidance data source 1018, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 10 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 1016 and media guidance data source 1018 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 1016 and 1018with user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and 1006 are shown as throughcommunications network 1014, in some embodiments, sources 1016 and 1018may communicate directly with user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and1006 via communication paths (not shown) such as those described abovein connection with paths 1008, 1010, and 1012.

Content source 1016 may include one or more types of contentdistribution equipment including a television distribution facility,cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, programmingsources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.),intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers,on-demand media servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademarkowned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademarkowned by the American Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademarkowned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Content source 1016 may be theoriginator of content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcastprovider, etc.) or may not be the originator of content (e.g., anon-demand content provider, an Internet provider of content of broadcastprograms for downloading, etc.). Content source 1016 may include cablesources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 1016 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 1018 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 1018may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 1018 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 1018 mayprovide user equipment devices 1002, 1004, and 1006 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions that entice the user tokeep the particular service or source indicated by the score as one towhich the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 908, and executedby control circuitry 904 of a user equipment device 900. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 904 of user equipment device 900and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 1018) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 1018), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 1018 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices1002, 1004, and 1006 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 1000 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 10.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 1014.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 1016 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 1002 and user computer equipment 1004may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 1006 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 1014. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 1016 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 1018. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 1002, user computer equipment 1004, andwireless user communications device 1006. For example, the other userequipment devices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or astreamed video. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operatein a peer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 1004 or wireless usercommunications device 1006 having content capture feature.Alternatively, the user can first transfer the content to a userequipment device, such as user computer equipment 1004. The userequipment device storing the content uploads the content to the cloudusing a data transmission service on communications network 1014. Insome embodiments, the user equipment device itself is a cloud resource,and other user equipment devices can access the content directly fromthe user equipment device on which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 9.

As referred herein, the term “in response to” refers to initiated as aresult of. For example, a first action being performed in response to asecond action may include interstitial steps between the first actionand the second action. As referred herein, the term “directly inresponse to” refers to caused by. For example, a first action beingperformed directly in response to a second action may not includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for allowing a user toaccess a blocked media asset in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. Process 1100 may be used to determine if another user hasallowed the first user access to the blocked media in response to theirrequest to access the blocked media. The term “another user” will beused herein to refer to any user with the authority to approve access ofthe blocked media by the first user. For example, two parents and agrandparent may be designated as having the authority to approve accessfor a child's account; all three would fall under the umbrella of“another user,” or once mentioned, “the other user,” as described inthis application. It should be noted that process 1100 or any stepthereof, could occur on, or be provided by, any of the devices shown inFIGS. 9-10. For example, process 1100 may be executed by controlcircuitry 904 as instructed by the media guidance application (e.g.,implemented on any of the devices shown and described in FIG. 10).

Process 1100 begins at 1102, where the media guidance applicationreceives, from a first user equipment device (e.g., any of the userequipment shown and described in FIG. 10), a first identifier associatedwith a first user. In some embodiments, the media guidance applicationstores the identifier in storage 908. For example, when the mediaguidance application is executed on a particular user equipment device(e.g., any of the user equipment shown and described in FIG. 10), themedia guidance application automatically receives the identifier, sinceit is stored in storage 908. In other embodiments, the media guidanceapplication receives the user input of the identifier, using user inputinterface 910. The identifier may comprise any finite string ofcharacters, such as numbers and letters. For example, a receivedidentifier could be, “1234” or “John123.” The media guidance applicationmay then determine if this identifier matches an identifier stored in anindex data structure of user profiles, and if so, access the profile.

Process 1100 may continue to 1104, where the media guidance applicationreceives a request to allow the first user to access a media asset thatis blocked for the first user. As described in FIGS. 1-2 above, themedia guidance application stores each individual profile, such as theprofile for “John123,” in a data structure, which could be stored instorage 908 or remotely at media guidance data source 1018. For example,the media guidance application may store an object of the user profileclass where the variables and constants are initialized with valuesappropriate to the specific user (e.g., John). The media guidanceapplication may receive from the first user, via user input interface910, a request to access a media asset.

The media guidance application then compares metadata associated withthe media asset, such as the rating of the media asset, with data storedin the data structure corresponding to the first user profile todetermine if the media asset is blocked for the user. For example, themedia guidance application may receive a user request to access aprogram with a rating of “TV-MA.” The media guidance application maycompare this rating with a threshold rating stored in the data structurecorresponding to the first user profile, “TV-14.” Since the rating ofthe requested program is higher than the rating stored in the first userprofile, the media guidance application may block the program andprevent the first user from accessing it.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application then generates fordisplay (e.g., on display 100 or 300) an option to transmit (e.g., 306)a notification containing a request to access the media viacommunications network 1014 to another user. Upon selection of theoption to transmit (e.g., 306), process 1100 may proceed to 1106. Inother embodiments, the media guidance application may automaticallytransmit a notification to another user to request access to the mediaasset without any further user input.

Process 1100 may continue to 1106, where the media guidance applicationdetermines, using a first profile associated with the first user, ifthere is another user who has authority to approve access to the mediaasset for the first user. The media guidance application queries thedata structure associated with the first profile, which could be storedin storage 908 or remotely at media guidance data source 1018, todetermine if a user has been designated as having the authority toapprove access. For example, the media guidance application coulddeclare a custom structure in an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, where the structure contains a string with the identifierof another user and a boolean that indicates whether the user has theauthority to approve access to the media asset for the first user. Themedia guidance application may execute a script which declares thestructure “approver” with the two types described above, and thencreates an instance for each user that has the authority to approve andstore them in the first profile (e.g., “approver MOM” and “approver DAD”where each has a Boolean approver=“True”). Alternatively, the mediaguidance application could store which users have authority to approveaccess in such data structures as lists or vectors.

The media guidance application then determines whether there is a userwith authority to approve access based on whether the query returns thata data structure containing users with the authority to approve accessto the media asset exists, is empty, or contains one or more identifiersof users. If the data structure does not exist or is empty, the mediaguidance application may determine that there is not another user whohas authority to approve access. If the data structure contains one ormore identifiers, the media guidance application may determine thatthere is another user who has authority to approve access.

If process 1106 determines there is no other user who has authority toapprove access, process 1100 may continue to 1120, where the mediaguidance application returns a message that the first user cannot accessthe media asset. For example, the media guidance application maygenerate for display (e.g. on display 100 or 300) that the notificationcould not be delivered since no users with authority to approve accessare associated with the first user's account.

In some embodiments, if at 1106 the media guidance applicationdetermines there is another user who has authority to approve access,process 1100 may perform one or more additional steps between 1106 and1108 as outlined in FIG. 13, where the media guidance applicationdetermines, using a profile associated with the other user, whether auser equipment device (e.g. any of the user equipment shown anddescribed in FIG. 10) is associated with the other user. The mediaguidance application may retrieve from the first profile an identifierassociated with another user who has authority to approve access of themedia asset. The media guidance application may then determine if thisidentifier matches an identifier stored in an index data structure ofuser profiles, which could be stored in storage 908 or remotely at mediaguidance data source 1018, and if so, access the profile. The mediaguidance application then queries a data structure containing theprofile for a user equipment device (e.g., any of the user equipmentshown and described in FIG. 10) associated with the user with authorityto approve access to the media asset where they may be able to receivethe notification from the first user. As was described in 1106, if thedata structure does not exist or is empty, the media guidanceapplication determines that there is not a user equipment deviceassociated with the other user. If the data structure contains one ormore identifiers, the media guidance application determines that thereis a user equipment device associated with the other user.

If process 1106 determines there is a user who has authority to approveaccess, process 1100 may continue to 1108, where the media guidanceapplication transmits a notification (e.g., 206 or 412) to the otheruser on the display (e.g., 200 or 400) of a user equipment deviceassociated with the other user that the first user has requested accessto the media asset that is blocked. The media guidance application mayretrieve contact information for the user equipment device associatedwith the other user from the data structure corresponding to the otheruser profile and transmit a notification (e.g., 206 or 412) that thefirst user has requested to access the blocked media asset. For example,the media guidance application may retrieve a phone number for wirelessuser communications device 1006 (e.g., a mobile phone) associated withthe other user. The media guidance application may then transmit thenotification via text message to wireless communications device 1006.

Process 1100 may continue to 1110, where the media guidance applicationreceives, from a user equipment device (e.g., any of the user equipmentshown and described in FIG. 10) associated with the other user, anidentifier associated with the other user. In some embodiments, themedia guidance application may store the identifier in storage 908. Forexample, when the media guidance application is executed on a particularuser equipment device, the media guidance application automaticallyreceives the identifier, since it is stored in storage 908. In otherembodiments, the media guidance application may receive the user inputof the identifier, using user input interface 910. The identifier maycomprise any finite string of characters, such as numbers and letters.For example, an inputted identifier could be, “1234” or “Mom1980.”

Process 1100 may continue to 1112, where the media guidance applicationdetermines the identifier associated with the other user matches anidentifier associated with the user profile of the other user. Asdescribed in FIGS. 1-2 above, the media guidance application may storeeach individual profile, such as the profile for “Mom1980,” in a datastructure, which could be stored in storage 908 or remotely at mediaguidance data source 1018. For example, the media guidance applicationmay store an instantiated object of the user profile class where thevariables and constants are initialized with values appropriate to thespecific user (e.g., Mom). The media guidance application may thencompare this identifier to identifiers stored in an index data structureof user profiles, and determine if there is a match. If there is amatch, then the identifier corresponds to a stored profile associatedwith the other user. If there is not a match, then the identifier doesnot correspond to a stored profile.

If the identifier does not correspond to a stored profile, process 1100may move back to 1106, where the media guidance application maydetermine, using a first profile associated with the first user, yetanother user who has authority to approve access to the media asset forthe first user. For example, if the media guidance applicationdetermines that the user to whom the notification was sent cannotcorrectly enter his or her identifier, the media guidance applicationmay attempt to determine yet another user to transmit the notificationto. In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receivemultiple inputs from the other user using user input interface 910 of anidentifier until a threshold number of inputs are reached, at which timethe media guidance application may attempt to determine if there is yetanother user with the authority to approve access. For example, themedia guidance application may receive an identifier that does not matchany identifiers stored in memory from one parent of a child five times,at which point the media guidance application may transmit thenotification to the other parent if they also have the authority toapprove access to media assets for the child.

If the identifier corresponds to a stored profile, process 1100 maycontinue to 1114, where the media guidance application generates fordisplay an option to unblock the media asset for access by the firstuser on the first user equipment device. The media guidance applicationmay generate for display (e.g., on display 200 or 400)) an option tounblock (e.g., 208 or 414) the media asset for access by the first useron the first user equipment device (e.g., any of the user equipmentshown and described in FIG. 10) in response to determining theidentifier of the other user matches an identifier associated with theprofile of the other user. For example, upon the media guidanceapplication determining that the user of the device is Mom, based on thereceived identifier “Mom1980” pointing to the profile associated withMom, the media guidance application generates for display (e.g., ondisplay 200 or 400) a selectable icon (e.g., 208 or 414) or otherselectable feature to the user Mom indicating that she can unblock themedia asset in the notification (e.g., 206 or 412) that the first userwishes to access.

Process 1100 may continue to 1116, where the media guidance applicationmay receive a selection of the option to unblock the media asset. Themedia guidance application may store, in the first user profile, a datastructure such as a structure in C++, that contains variables referringto the specific media asset the first user is authorized to access andany conditions attached to the ability to access that media asset, asoutlined in FIGS. 5-6. For example, after the other user has approvedaccess by the first user of the media asset, the media guidanceapplication may unblock the media asset and allow the first user toaccess the media asset. Additionally, if the other user has stipulatedany conditions attached to accessing the media asset, the media guidanceapplication will implement those as well and store them in the datastructure described above. For example, if the media guidanceapplication receives an indication from the other user that the firstuser should not view a television program after 8 pm, the media guidanceapplication will store and initialize a variable “end time” to be “8 pm”and unblock the program only until 8 pm.

Process 1100 may continue to 1118, where the media guidance applicationunblocks the blocked media asset for access by the first user on thefirst user equipment. For example, the media guidance application maystore, in the first user profile, a data structure such as a structurein C++, that contains variables referring to the specific media assetthe first user is authorized to access and any conditions attached tothe ability to access, as described above in FIGS. 5-6, and allow thefirst user using the first user equipment (e.g., any of the userequipment shown and described in FIG. 10) to access the media assetpursuant to the conditions stored in the data structure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a set of illustrative steps for determining,in a first profile associated with the first user, a second user who hasauthority to approve access to the media asset for the first user inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 1200 may beused to determine another user who can approve access to the media assetrequested by the first user. It should be noted that process 1200 or anystep thereof, could occur on, or be provided by, any of the devicesshown in FIGS. 9-10. For example, process 1200 may be executed bycontrol circuitry 904 (FIG. 9) as instructed by the media guidanceapplication (e.g., implemented on any of the devices shown and describedin FIG. 10).

Process 1200 begins with 1202, where the media guidance applicationbegins a process for determining, using a first profile associated withthe first user, another user who has authority to approve access to themedia asset for the first user. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine, by accessing the first profile stored ineither storage 908 or remotely at media guidance data source 1018 viacommunications network 1014, another user who has authority to approveaccess to the media asset for the first user.

Process 1200 may continue to 1204, where the media guidance applicationcompares the received first identifier to a plurality of identifiersstored in an index data structure of user profiles. The media guidanceapplication may compare the received identifier with a plurality ofidentifiers stored in an index data structure at either storage 908 orremotely at media guidance data source 1018 accessible viacommunications network 1014. The media guidance application mayassociate a pointer to a user profile with each identifier in the indexdata structure.

Process 1200 may continue to 1206, where the media guidance applicationdetermines if the first identifier matches an identifier stored in theindex data structure of user profiles. The media guidance applicationmay compare the contents of the received identifier and the identifiersstored in the index data structure. For example, the received identifiermay be stored as a string and compared to identifiers stored in theindex data structure as strings. If the media guidance applicationdetermines that every character in the received identifier matches everycharacter in a stored identifier, the media guidance application mayreturn a Boolean that the two identifiers match to “True.”

If the first identifier does not match an identifier stored in the indexdata structure of user profiles, process 1200 may continue to 1208,where the media guidance application returns a message that the firstidentifier does not correspond to a stored profile. In this case, themedia guidance application would not be able to determine a user withauthority to approve access for the first user since the first user doesnot have a profile; as such, the media asset would remain blocked forthe first user.

If the first identifier matches an identifier stored in the index datastructure of user profiles, process 1200 may continue to 1210, where themedia guidance application accesses the first user profile. The mediaguidance application may access the first user profile based on datastored with the matched identifier in the index data structure. Forexample, the media guidance application may determine a data structureassociated with the first user profile based on a pointer to the datastructure associated with the identifier in the index data structure.The media guidance application may then access the data structurecorresponding to the first user profile.

Process 1200 may continue to 1212, where the media guidance applicationqueries a data structure stored in memory containing the first profilefor another user who has authority to approve access to the media assetfor the first user. For example, the media guidance application coulddeclare a structure in an object oriented programming language such asC++, as described above in FIG. 11, containing an identifier and anindication whether the user has the authority to approve access to mediaassets. The media guidance application may then determine whether thereis a user with authority to approve access based on whether the queryreturns that a data structure containing users with the authority toapprove access to the media asset exists, is empty, or contains one ormore identifiers of users.

Process 1200 may continue to 1214, where the media guidance applicationdetermines whether the first profile contains another user who hasauthority to approve access to the media asset for the first user. Themedia guidance application may determine if the first profile containsanother user based on the querying in 1212. If the data structure doesnot exist or is empty, the media guidance application determines thatthere is not another user who has authority to approve access. If thedata structure contains one or more identifiers, the media guidanceapplication determines that there is another user who has authority toapprove access.

If the first profile does not contain another user who has authority toapprove access to the media asset, process 1200 may continue to 1216,where the media guidance application may return a message that there isno user who can unblock the media asset for access by the first user. Inthis case, the media guidance application cannot find any users totransmit the notification to allow access to the media asset; as such,the media asset would remain blocked for the first user.

If the first profile does contain another user who has authority toapprove access to the media asset, process 1200 may continue to 1218,where the media guidance application returns the identifier associatedwith the other user who has authority to approve access to the mediaasset for the first user. For example, the media guidance applicationmay return “Mom1980” (e.g., the identifier of user Mom 112), based onquerying a profile associated with user John (e.g., user 106).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a set of illustrative steps for determining,from a second profile associated with the second user, whether a seconduser equipment device is associated with the second user in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 1300 may be used todetermine if there is a user equipment device (e.g., any of the userequipment shown and described in FIG. 10) that can receive thenotification from the first user to unblock the media asset. It shouldbe noted that process 1300 or any step thereof, could occur on, or beprovided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 9-10. For example,process 1300 may be executed by control circuitry 904 (FIG. 9) asinstructed by the media guidance application (e.g., implemented on anyof the devices shown and described in FIG. 10).

Process 1300 begins with 1302, where the media guidance applicationbegins a process for determining, using a profile associated with theother user, whether a user equipment device is associated with the otheruser. For example, the media guidance application determines in aprofile associated with the other user that user equipment (e.g., any ofthe user equipment shown and described in FIG. 10) associated with theother user can be used to display (e.g., on display 200 or 400) thenotification 206 from the first user.

Process 1300 may continue to 1304, where the media guidance applicationretrieves, from a data structure stored in memory corresponding to thefirst user profile, the other identifier. For example, the mediaguidance application may retrieve the identifier from the data structurecorresponding to the first profile stored in storage 908 or remotely atmedia guidance data source 1018 via communications network 1014. Themedia guidance application may retrieve the string, “Mom1980”corresponding to the other user.

Process 1300 may continue to 1306, where the media guidance applicationmay determine if the other identifier matches an identifier stored inthe index data structure of user profiles. The media guidanceapplication may determine whether the retrieved the other identifiermatches a stored identifier in the index data structure of user profilesin the same way as described above in FIG. 12. Briefly, the mediaguidance application may compare the retrieved the other identifier witha plurality of identifiers stored in the index data structure anddetermine if there is a match.

If the other identifier does not match an identifier stored in the indexdata structure, process 1300 may continue to 1308, where the mediaguidance application returns a message that the other identifier doesnot correspond to a stored profile. In this case, the media guidanceapplication would not be able to determine a user equipment device(e.g., any of the user equipment shown and described in FIG. 10) totransmit the notification to allow access to the media asset, sincethere is no profile associated with the identifier, causing process 1300to return “No.” The media guidance application may then attempt todetermine if there are any other users with authority to approve access(e.g., process 1100 would return to 1106).

If the other identifier does match an identifier stored in the indexdata structure, process 1300 may continue to 1310, where the mediaguidance application accesses the other user profile. The media guidanceapplication accesses the other user profile based on data stored withthe matched identifier in the index data structure. For example, themedia guidance application determines a data structure associated withthe other user profile based on a pointer to the data structureassociated with the identifier in the index data structure. The mediaguidance application then accesses the data structure corresponding tothe other user profile.

Process 1300 may continue to 1312, where the media guidance applicationqueries the data structure stored in memory containing the other userprofile for a user equipment device associated with the other user thatcan receive the notification. For example, the media guidanceapplication could declare a structure in an object oriented programminglanguage such as C++, similar to that described above in FIG. 11,containing an identifier of the device and contact information. Forexample, the contact information could be a mobile phone number or anemail address. The media guidance application may then determine whetherthere is a device on which the other user can receive the notificationto allow access to the blocked media based on whether the query returnsthat a data structure of user equipment devices (e.g. any of the userequipment shown and described in FIG. 10) associated with the other userexists, is empty, or contains one or more identifiers of users.

Process 1300 may continue to 1314, where the media guidance applicationdetermines if the profile for the other user contains a user equipmentdevice associated with the other user. The media guidance applicationdetermines if the other profile contains a user equipment device (e.g.any of the user equipment shown and described in FIG. 10) associatedwith the other user based on the querying in 1314. If the data structuredoes not exist or is empty, the media guidance application determinesthat there is not a user equipment device associated with the otheruser. If the data structure contains one or more identifiers, the mediaguidance application determines that there is a user equipment deviceassociated with the other user.

If the profile for the other user does not contain a user equipmentdevice associated with the other user, process 1300 may continue to1316, where the media guidance application returns a message that thereis no user equipment device (e.g., any of the user equipment shown anddescribed in FIG. 10) associated with the other user. In this case, themedia guidance application would not be able to transmit thenotification since there is no user equipment stored that can receiveit, causing process 1300 to return “No.” The media guidance applicationmay then attempt to determine if there are any other users withauthority to approve access (e.g., process 1100 would return to 1106).

If the profile for the other user does contain a user equipment deviceassociated with the other user, process 1300 may continue to 1318, wherethe media guidance application returns an identifier of the userequipment device associated with the other user. For example, the mediaguidance application may return the identifier “Mom's phone,”corresponding to a user equipment device (e.g., any of the userequipment shown and described in FIG. 10) based on querying a profileassociated with the other user (e.g., Mom).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of illustrative steps for determining the secondidentifier matches an identifier associated with the second profile inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Process 1400 may beused to determine if the received second identifier corresponds to anidentifier of a profile stored in memory. It should be noted thatprocess 1400 or any step thereof, could occur on, or be provided by, anyof the devices shown in FIGS. 9-10. For example, process 1400 may beexecuted by control circuitry 904 (FIG. 9) as instructed by the mediaguidance application (e.g., implemented on any of the devices shown anddescribed in FIG. 10).

Process 1400 begins with 1402, where the media guidance applicationbegins a process for determining whether the other identifier matches anidentifier associated with the other user profile. For example, themedia guidance application determines, by comparing the receivedidentifier with identifiers stored in an index data structure in eitherstorage 908 or remotely at media guidance data source 1018 viacommunications network 1014, if a user profile corresponding to theother user exists.

Process 1400 may continue to 1404, where the media guidance applicationmay compare the received other identifier to a plurality of identifiersstored in an index data structure of user profiles. Similar to theprocess described with respect to FIG. 12 above for determining a firstuser profile corresponding to a first identifier, the media guidanceapplication may compare the received identifier with a plurality ofidentifiers stored in an index data structure at either storage 908 orremotely at media guidance data source 1018 accessible viacommunications network 1014. The media guidance application mayassociate a pointer to a user profile with each identifier in the indexdata structure.

Process 1400 may continue to 1406, where the media guidance applicationdetermines if the other identifier matches an identifier stored in theindex data structure of user profiles. Similar to Process 1200 describedabove for determining a first user profile corresponding to a firstidentifier, the media guidance application may compare the contents ofthe received other identifier and the identifiers stored in the indexdata structure. For example, the received other identifier may be storedas a string and compared to identifiers stored in the index datastructure as strings. If the media guidance application determines thatevery character in the received other identifier matches every characterin a stored identifier, the media guidance application may return aBoolean output that the two identifiers match to “True.”

If the other identifier does not match an identifier stored in the indexdata structure of user profiles, process 1400 may continue to 1408,where the media guidance application returns that the other identifierdoes not correspond to a stored profile. In this case, the mediaguidance application would not be able to authenticate that the user whohas authority to provide access is currently using the user equipmentdevice (e.g., any of the user equipment shown and described in FIG. 10)that the notification has been transmitted to. The media guidanceapplication may then attempt to determine if there are any other userswith authority to approve access (e.g., process 1100 would return to1106 from 1114).

If the other identifier matches an identifier stored in the index datastructure of user profiles, process 1400 may continue to 1410, where themedia guidance application may return that the other identifier matchesan identifier corresponding to the other user profile. For example, themedia guidance application may determine a data structure associatedwith other user profile based on a pointer to the data structureassociated with the identifier in the index data structure. The mediaguidance application may then access the data structure corresponding tothe first user profile.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of each of FIGS. 11-14may be used with any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition,the steps and descriptions described in relation to FIGS. 11-14 may bedone in alternative orders or in parallel to further the purposes ofthis disclosure. For example, each of these steps may be performed inany order or in parallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lagor increase the speed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should benoted that any of the devices or equipment discussed in relation toFIGS. 1-10 could be used to perform one or more of the steps in FIGS.11-14.

The processes discussed above are intended to be illustrative and notlimiting. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the steps of theprocesses discussed herein may be omitted, modified, combined, and/orrearranged, and any additional steps may be performed without departingfrom the scope of the invention. More generally, the above disclosure ismeant to be exemplary and not limiting. Only the claims that follow aremeant to set bounds as to what the present invention includes.Furthermore, it should be noted that the features and limitationsdescribed in any one embodiment may be applied to any other embodimentherein, and flowcharts or examples relating to one embodiment may becombined with any other embodiment in a suitable manner, done indifferent orders, or done in parallel. In addition, the systems andmethods described herein may be performed in real time. It should alsobe noted that the systems and/or methods described above may be appliedto, or used in accordance with, other systems and/or methods.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for allowing a user to access a blockedmedia asset, the method comprising: receiving a request to allow a firstuser to access a media asset that is blocked for the first user;determining, from a first profile of the first user, a second user whohas authority to approve access to the media asset for the first user;in response to determining the second user who has authority to approveaccess to the media asset for the first user: receiving, from a seconduser equipment device of the second user, a second identifier associatedwith the second user; comparing the second identifier with an identifierin a second profile of the second user; and in response to determiningthat the second identifier matches the identifier in the second profile:generating, for display on the second user equipment device, an optionto unblock the media asset for access by the first user; and in responseto receiving a selection of the option to unblock the media asset,unblocking the media asset for access by the first user.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first profile of the first user includes a datastructure storing at least one of: an age of the first user; a flagindicating whether the first user has authority to approve access to themedia asset; a social media account associated with the first user; aphone number associated with the first user; an email address associatedwith the first user; a list of viewing preferences of the first user;and a list of user profiles that have approver rights for said firstuser profile.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving afirst identifier of the first user; comparing the first identifier to aplurality of identifiers associated with an account stored in an indexdata structure of user profiles; and determining that the firstidentifier matches an identifier associated with the first profile ofthe first user.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining, from the second profile of the second user, whether anyuser equipment device is associated with the second user; in response todetermining no user equipment device is associated with the second user:determining, from the first profile associated with the first user, athird user who has authority to approve access to the media asset forthe first user.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingtransmitting, to the second user on the second user equipment device, anotification indicating that the first user has requested to access themedia asset that is blocked, wherein the notification includes at leastone of: a genre of the media asset; a rating of the media asset; a linkto a webpage associated with the media asset; a preview associated withthe media asset; a personalized communication from the first user; andan indication why the media asset was blocked.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the first user can personalize the notification to include atleast one of: a written message; a photo; a video; and an audio message.7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to thesecond user on the second user equipment device, a notificationindicating that the first user has requested access to the media assetthat is blocked; determining that the second user is not available torespond to the notification; determining, from the first profile of thefirst user, a third user who has authority to approve access to themedia asset for the first user; determining, from a third profile of thethird user, whether a third user equipment device is associated with thethird user; in response to determining a third user equipment device isassociated with the third user: transmitting, to the third user on thethird user equipment device, the notification indicating that the firstuser has requested access to the media asset that is blocked; receiving,from the third user equipment device, a third identifier of the thirduser; comparing the third identifier with an identifier in the thirdprofile; in response to determining that the third identifier matchesthe identifier in the third profile, generating for display on the thirduser equipment device the option to unblock the media asset for accessby the first user; and in response to receiving a selection of theoption to unblock the media asset, unblocking the media asset for accessby the first user.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining thatthe second user is not available to respond to the notification furthercomprises at least one of: determining the second user has exceeded athreshold time to respond to the notification; and determining thesecond user equipment device is unable to receive the notification. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the option to unblock the media asset foraccess by the first user further includes at least one of: an option tocommunicate with the first user; an option to approve the media assetfor access during a predetermined period of time; and an option tounblock a different version of the media asset.
 10. The method of claim1, further comprising: receiving, from the second user, a conditionalallowance criterion for unblocking the media asset if the conditionalallowance criterion is met by the first user; storing, in the first userprofile, the conditional allowance criterion to unblock the media asset;in response to receiving a selection of the media asset by the firstuser, determining that the media asset requires the conditionalallowance criterion to be met before unblocking the media asset;generating, for display on a first user equipment device, a notificationindicating the conditional allowance criterion; receiving input from thefirst user that the conditional allowance criterion has been met; and inresponse to the receiving input that the conditional allowance criterionhas been met, unblocking the media asset for access by the first user.11. A system for allowing a user to access a blocked media asset, thesystem comprising: storage circuitry; display circuitry; and controlcircuitry configured to: receive a request to allow a first user toaccess a media asset that is blocked for the first user; determine, froma first profile of the first user stored in the storage circuitry, asecond user who has authority to approve access to the media asset forthe first user; in response to determining the second user who hasauthority to approve access to the media asset for the first user:receive, from a second user equipment device of the second user, asecond identifier associated with the second user; compare the secondidentifier with an identifier in a second profile of the second user;and in response to determining that the second identifier matches theidentifier in the second profile: generate, for display on second userequipment device using the display circuitry, an option to unblock themedia asset for access by the first user; and in response to receiving aselection of the option to unblock the media asset, unblock the mediaasset for access by the first user.
 12. The system of claim 11, whereinthe first profile of the first user stored in the storage circuitryincludes a data structure storing at least one of: an age of the firstuser; a flag indicating whether the first user has authority to approveaccess to the media asset; a social media account associated with thefirst user; a phone number associated with the first user; an emailaddress associated with the first user; a list of viewing preferences ofthe first user; and a list of user profiles that have approver rightsfor said first user profile.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: receive a first identifierof the first user; compare the first identifier to a plurality ofidentifiers associated with an account stored in an index data structureof user profiles; and determine that the first identifier matches anidentifier associated with the first profile of the first user.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: determine, from the second profile of the second user, whether anyuser equipment device is associated with the second user; in response todetermining no user equipment device is associated with the second user,determine, from the first profile associated with the first user storedin the storage circuitry, a third user who has authority to approveaccess to the media asset for the first user.
 15. The system of claim11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to transmit, tothe second user on the second user equipment device, a notificationindicating that the first user has requested to access the media assetthat is blocked, wherein the notification includes at least one of: agenre of the media asset; a rating of the media asset; a link to awebpage associated with the media asset; a preview associated with themedia asset; a personalized communication from the first user; and anindication why the media asset was blocked.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the first user can personalize the notification to include atleast one of: a written message; a photo; a video; and an audio message.17. The system of claim 11, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: transmit, to the second user on the second user equipmentdevice, a notification indicating that the first user has requestedaccess to the media asset that is blocked; determine that the seconduser is not available to respond to the notification; determine, fromthe first profile of the first user, a third user who has authority toapprove access to the media asset for the first user; determine, from athird profile of the third user, whether a third user equipment deviceis associated with the third user; in response to determining a thirduser equipment device is associated with the third user: transmit, tothe third user on the third user equipment device, the notificationindicating that the first user has requested access to the media assetthat is blocked; receive, from the third user equipment device, a thirdidentifier of the third user; compare the third identifier with anidentifier in the third profile; in response to determining that thethird identifier matches the identifier in the third profile, generatefor display on the third user equipment device the option to unblock themedia asset for access by the first user; and in response to receiving aselection of the option to unblock the media asset, unblock the mediaasset for access by the first user.
 18. The system of claim 17, whereinthe control circuitry, when determining that the second user is notavailable to respond to the notification, is further configured toperform at least one of: determining the second user has exceeded athreshold time to respond to the notification; and determining thesecond user equipment device is unable to receive the notification. 19.The system of claim 11, wherein the option to unblock the media assetfor access by the first user further includes at least one of: an optionto communicate with the first user; an option to approve the media assetfor access during a predetermined period of time; and an option tounblock a different version of the media asset.
 20. The system of claim11, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to: receive,from the second user, a conditional allowance criterion for unblockingthe media asset if the conditional allowance criterion is met by thefirst user; store, in the first user profile, the conditional allowancecriterion to unblock the media asset; in response to receiving aselection of the media asset by the first user, determine that the mediaasset requires the conditional allowance criterion to be met beforeunblocking the media asset; generate, for display on a first userequipment device, a notification indicating the conditional allowancecriterion; receive input from the first user that the conditionalallowance criterion has been met; and in response to the receiving inputthat the conditional allowance criterion has been met, unblock the mediaasset for access by the first user.